Denise, 72, reveals Linda lived up to her Naughty Nolan nickname until her last hours (Image: GETTY)
Singer and actress remained in high spirits, laughing and joking until her final moments, her sister shared. The beloved entertainment legend passed away on Wednesday at the age of 65, following a hospitalisation for breathing issues last weekend.
Her death came eight years after her secondary diagnosis in her hip. Despite doctors diagnosing her with double pneumonia and advising rest and oxygen therapy, Denise, aged 72, shares that Linda embraced her “Naughty Nolan” moniker to the end.
Ignoring medical advice, she spent her last conscious hours doing what she did best – delighting those around her.
Denise fondly remembers the last hours with her “beautiful, brave, hard-working and talented sister” saying: “She’d been laughing and joking, although the medical team had told her she had to stay quiet to let her treatment do its job. Everyone was being quietly optimistic as she’d seemed so cheerful. Then at 3.30am on Tuesday, we got the dreaded call, ‘Get to the hospital asap’.”
Two years prior, Linda had been informed that her cancer had metastasised to her brain. Nevertheless, just two days before her final hospital visit last Saturday, she had written in her weekly Mirror column about feeling better following a Christmas “bout of flu”.
Exuding her characteristic optimism, Linda penned: “I feel so grateful to be feeling well again. It feels like a whole new world out there. There’s nothing like the sensation of starting to feel better after an illness. I wake up every morning and I think, ‘This is another day to celebrate’,” reports .
Linda died on Wednesday (Image: Getty)
However, within 48 hours, her condition took a turn for the worse as she began experiencing breathing difficulties. Denise, who had been caring for Linda at her home in Blackpool, promptly sought help.
Recalling the moment, Denise said: “I can still see her struggling to breathe, and the lovely nurse who got the doctor out. He took one look and rang an ambulance.”
Denise accompanied Linda to the hospital, where she spent hours by her side as she underwent various tests. Linda, having grown accustomed to such procedures over the years, remained a model patient, apologising for any inconvenience to Denise and the hospital staff.
Eventually, Linda was settled in, and Denise left, unaware that it would be the last time she would see her conscious.
As Denise returned home to care for her husband Tom Anderson, 77, who suffers from Parkinson’s, other family members and friends stepped in to keep Linda company at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. They reported back to Denise on Linda’s lively demeanor, and Denise had planned to visit again on Tuesday.
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The Nolan sisters have always been very close (Image: Getty)
However, on Monday night, Linda’s condition began to deteriorate as her weakened immune system struggled to combat the pneumonia. In the early hours, she fell into unconsciousness and doctors decided to initiate end-of-life care.
Linda’s siblings brothers Tommy, 75, and Brian, 69, and sisters Anne, 74, Denise, Maureen, 70, and Coleen, 59 were urgently summoned to her bedside. Yet, much like the cancer that had shadowed her for two decades, Linda defied expectations.
Denise recalls: “Friends and family sat by her bed, holding her hand, for 36 hours. She wouldn’t give up.”
After a 14-hour vigil over Linda, Denise had to depart to administer medication to her husband. Before she could return on Wednesday morning, she received the call informing her of Linda’s passing.
The other sisters had all been present at her side. It is a phone call that will forever haunt Denise. She shared: “At around 10.20am we got the worst news our beautiful, brave, hard-working, talented sister was gone. We’re numb. My husband Tom can’t speak about her without crying. We’ll love and miss her for ever.”
The siblings lost their sister Bernie to secondary breast cancer in 2013, when she was just 52. Following that loss, Denise and Linda had spent the last few years inseparable.
Denise became a steadfast companion to Linda during her hospital visits, earning the moniker “Deliveroo Denise” for bringing meals when tough news sent Linda retreating to her room. In a touching turn, it was Linda who encouraged Denise and Tom to tie the knot after 47 years.
Linda’s passing has left an indelible void in Denise’s life and home. Denise shared with us: “We’ve been here before, with our beloved Bernie.
“But this has been harder because Linda lived with us. I’m looking round the room everywhere there are reminders.”